The Minnesota Vikings have been playing football for a month, and they’ve encountered a slew of obstacles: Jordan Addison‘s suspension, an injured offensive line, and J.J. McCarthy’s high ankle sprain. A 10-day trip to Europe gave the Vikings jet lag, and they returned still having no idea who they are going into the bye week.
Kevin O’Connell said as much during his pre-bye press conference this week, stating that one of the ultimate goals of the bye is to figure out the identity of this year’s team.
“It’s been hard to figure out exactly what that looks like, just as it’s been a game-to-game, day-to-day approach,” O’Connell said. “Just trying to maximize our preparation, just trying to improve and continue to elevate the floor of our team, because that floor has been called upon.”
While O’Connell admitted the Vikings are 3-2, they have many areas to improve, and resolving their identity crisis is the first step towards maximizing the team’s potential.
So far, that hasn’t been a smooth process. A team that thrived on hunting big plays downfield and dreamed of using a strong running game to complement it this year fell apart in several ways before the bye. Christian Darrisaw’s prolonged recovery from his torn ACL and MCL altered those plans. Still, the steady march of the rest of the injuries on the offensive line left McCarthy and backup Carson Wentz with little time to throw and a 36.5% pressure rate on their dropbacks.
McCarthy and Wentz have also lacked downfield targets. Jordan Addison’s three-game suspension didn’t help, and with the offensive line decimated, the Vikings have used T.J. Hockenson more as a blocker than a receiver to help in the trenches.
Having two of your top receiving targets either neutralized or suspended doesn’t help the cause. But neither does shifting to a different playbook. Sam Darnold frequently had time to hunt for plays downfield behind a healthy offensive line and had an average depth of target of 9.3 yards last season. McCarthy also started the year in the same fashion with an aDOT of 10.3 yards in his first two starts. But Wentz had an aDOT of 7.8 since taking over in Week 3, and that number dropped from 9 in his first start to 6.6 yards in last week’s win over the Cleveland Browns.
Perhaps O’Connell was worn down by the overseas trip, but he was less than enthused when asked about installing easy levers for Wentz in the victory. It could also be that he’s had to lean on the running game more than he wanted. While Jordan Mason has been solid, the backfield is still missing Aaron Jones due to a hamstring injury suffered in Week 2.
If you look closely, you may think it’s a Mike Zimmer-led team on the field, leaning on the running game and the defense. But even that took a turn when the Vikings lost Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman due to injuries. While the Vikings are allowing 4.5 yards a carry, it’s an increase from the 4.1 average they had a year ago, dropping their average time of possession from 30:22 last year to 28:55 this season.
Of course, all of this comes back to the quarterback. While he hasn’t played well outside of a fourth-quarter comeback in the season-opening win against the Chicago Bears, the success of this year’s team wasn’t about McCarthy’s ability to be 2018 Patrick Mahomes. Instead, it was about the pieces around him that could lift his floor and help him lead the team to victory.
When the Vikings come out of the bye, it should be a different story. Darrisaw will be another week removed from his recovery process and will have a week off to refresh. Rookie Donovan Jackson and Brian O’Neill may also be ready to return after the bye week, giving the Vikings four of the five starters they planned on having going into this year.
That could allow Hockenson to go back to his role as a safety blanket and vertical threat, and getting Addison back could allow Justin Jefferson to look like his usual self. More big plays mean more points, and Minnesota’s defense could pin its ears back and try to get to the quarterback in must-pass scenarios.
While they’ve been playing football for a month, this is the identity that O’Connell wants his team to have, and it could result in a fresh start when they emerge from the bye. That could make life easier for McCarthy when he’s ready to return and solve one of the biggest mysteries that has presented itself to the 2025 Minnesota Vikings.